Hi guys, I’m Rawrsterous of clan Fox, and this is my first guide on the SMG, and its a sorta ‘in-depth’ look at what the SMG has to offer and how you can build it to make it very versatile for you. I originally wrote this guide just to express my thoughts on how an SMG should be built and the lack of ‘ideal’ SMG builds I have seen lately in-game. Here I’ll mostly be discussing why the SMG is pretty awesome, how you can use it well, and what builds you can make with it.So why should I use an SMG? What’s so great about it?

The SMG is not a very POWERFUL weapon as much as it is VERSATILE, and it plays to your advantage if you’re running a light or offensive build, since it has the highest possible run speed of any receiver in the game. It also has the lowest max hip spread and recoil of any receiver, and that basically means its pretty friendly when you shoot it while you’re moving, or doing other things that will otherwise increase the inaccuracy or bloom of your gun. It pretty much owns in CQC if you use it right, such as surprising the enemy, preparing your shots first, how you maneuver, etc etc.

Also because of its run speed, it makes it ideal for game modes like KOTH, DOM, and Netwar to play offensively and quickly secure a point or take out enemies trying to secure a point. It also does well in CTF because of the fact you can quickly intercept an enemy flag carrier or carry the enemy flag yourself while fending off enemies easily.

However, don’t be prepared to use it like an assault rifle or any other sort of rifle, since there are major differences from what rifles can do compared to SMGs or LMGs in-game. The biggest glaring difference is inaccuracy on the first shot, and ROF. Because of the high initial spread and its ROF, the SMG’s crosshairs bloom out quickly and eventually reach max spread quickly. Don’t count on ‘tap firing’ to reduce this much, as the SMG’s strength is quickly downing an enemy mostly by keeping the crosshair locked down on them while strafing if they are firing at you. Also, somewhat low clip size because of its high ROF. This can be compensated by using the extended magazine or quick magazine.

In short points, here’s what you’re looking at:

Strengths:

Highest possible run speed of any receiver

Lowest max hip spread and recoil of any receiver

Great in CQC (0-15m)

It does well in game modes such as KOTH, DOM, Netwar, and CTF

Weaknesses:

High spread and high ROF makes this weapon bloom quickly, making it a spray weapon

Low damage per bullet means it takes more bullets to down an enemy

Only decent at close-mid range (15m-30m), but any further will do no good because of its effective range stat

How should I use an SMG?

Easily enough, the SMG is what you’d expect it to be, and you’re going to be playing very offensively with it.

General tips on SMG

Try your best to be around cover, as your weakness is getting picked off by longer ranged weapons such as rifles (AR, BAR, BFR, CR, HAR) and you don’t want to be caught in the open

Flank or use surprise to your enemy, as this is where SMG does very very well

Strafe/move unpredictably if you’re being fired at, or susceptible to be fired at

How should I build my SMG, and what should I carry with it?

In a build, an SMG’s weaknesses are its initial spread and its weak damage per bullet. You can do little to nothing to fix either of these things. Focus on making its strengths prioritized.

SMG stats to prioritize:

Run speed

Max spread

clip size/reload

scope-in time (reliant on your stock and scope)

reduced recoil (although this correlates to max spread)

ability to silence/supress (this is optional, but it’s preferred to me at least, because enemies that rely on sound will get effed if you put this on, and it’ll sound like a needlegun)

SMG stats NOT to prioritize:

Initial spread (already high as is, you’ll never get this thing as low as a rifle)

damage per bullet (the damage modifiers do too little to compensate for the low damage)

Range (to an extent, you want to at least maintain a very decent effective range, but don’t lose too much (<25m) or prioritize it (>30m)

Zoom (if you have too high a zoom, it can be very annoying to use your SMG in ADS. Try to stay within 1.30x-2.00x)

Parts

For muzzles there are two major choices you can pick, since you want to reduce max spread the most: the Vulcan QDSS-9 at lv 7 or the Armcom NT4 at lv 21. I prefer the Armcom NT4 since you have the ability to silence, and what the Vulcan has over the Armcom are things that don’t need to be prioritized (adds 1m of range and slightly betters initial spread).

Armcom NT4 (best IMO for SMG)

Vulcan QDSS-9 (also great if you don’t have the NT4 unlocked yet)

For barrels, the Silverwood SW09 is IMO the best choice. Your focus is not on damage, but it increases your run speed by a ton and it boosts your effective range, allowing you to compensate for if you have a stock that decreases range but increases run speed.

Silverwood SW09

For magazines, this is up to you but I would prefer extended since the SMG burns through its clip pretty quickly. However, you can use a quick magazine if you want to chop off an extra 0.7 seconds on your reload time to compensate for the quick burn-thru of your magazine. Elemental magazines I would not suggest, however. SMGs rely on downing enemies quickly and immediately, and i feel that with elemental magazines you would lose some of that.

Extended mag

Quick mag (if you can frequently reload and be sparing in firefights)

For stocks, the Krane CP2 Dual Mount I feel is the best for the SMG. Why? It’s important to retain a good max spread, and all of the other light stocks except for the Krane CP2 Dual Mount increase max spread, which isn’t exactly a good thing. The Krane CP2 does decrease effective range by a lot, but this can be compensated for by picking the SW09 to increase max range to a range that is well within the bounds of acceptable.

Simple choice for weapon tag, just pick either run speed or reduced recoil (reduced recoil tags will also reduce max spread).

run speed

reduced recoil

As for scopes, use open sights that are non-obtrusive since you don’t want your target acquisition to be messed up by a small blackout time, an uncomfortable sight that blocks part of your screen or has a unlikeable tint to it, or a very unclear/hard to notice reticle. This is all based on preference, however, but those are my thoughts on scopes.

Lightsky ELO-tech R.6 at lv 24 (my favorite sight, it has a very clear reticle and is non-obtrusive. However, you will have to wait a while to unlock it)

OPRL Reflex-2 holo at lv 15 (a very nice sight, very non-obtrusive BUT has an uncomfortable reticle to me that looks like a caret ^)

Armcom CQB-LT at lv 22 (a good sight too, has a very clear reticle but slightly more obtrusive than the ELO-tech R.6, so if you can wait to try out the ELO-tech R.6, please do)

With all that put out of the way, here’s my build (max lv 25 to unlock all the parts that are required for it). Feel free to try this build out and then tell me your opinions on it!